IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

Suspect arrested while placing IED outside officer’s house in Baghdad

Baghdad – A person has been arrested while placing an IED outside a house of an officer in Baghdad, the military intelligence department said on Thursday.

In a statement, the department said, “intelligence of the 44th brigade, in cooperation with the national security agency, noticed a suspect while attempting to place an IED a house of an Interior Ministry officer in al-Qahira district, north of Baghdad.”

“The suspect was besieged before getting arrested,” the department said. Explosive experts were summoned to defuse the bomb.

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 297 Iraqis, were killed and injured due to violence and armed conflicts during the month of ِAugust. Baghdad was the most affected province with 45 deaths and 135 injuries.

Baghdad has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary groups and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake IS-occupied areas in 2016. While most of of the explosions and attacks went without a claim of responsibility, Islamic State has claimed several incidents.

Despite the group’s defeat in its main havens across Iraqi provinces, observers believe the group may still constitute a security threat.